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| Children rally for Washington's support on the issue of the youth OHV ban under the current CPSIA. |
Motorcycle representatives were allowed to plead their case yesterday in a meeting before the CPSC in Washington D.C. prior to the Commission making its final rulings on the “Procedures and Requirements for a Commission Determination or Exclusion” under the CPSIA. In other words, motorcyclists were allowed one last chance to appeal to the CPSC on behalf of our industry.
Representatives from Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki were present, among others, such as Paul Vitrano of the MIC and SVIA, who have been at the forefront of this issue since August 2008.
In the meeting, the CPSC reached its final rule on “Procedures and Requirements for a Commission Determination or Exclusion” (basically, they finalized the criteria for defining an exclusion under the CPSIA, which we’re hoping youth OHVs will fall under).
The final ruling was published in the Federal Register, and the list of exclusions included many of the aspects affecting youth OHVs including: “Lead used as an alloying element in steel; Lead used in the manufacture of aluminum; Lead used in copper-based alloys.”
An exclusion was also made for battery packs and light bulbs that are “inaccessible when the product is assembled in functional form.”
While this may all look sunny for the youth OHV industry, there’s a third exclusion that is proving to be problematic...
"The Commission may exclude if... lead in such product or material will not result in the absorption of any lead into the body..."
What’s the problem there? Well, the law says “any” and not “harmless trace elements.” The report put together by the MIC and SVIA which originally sought the exclusion, showed that a child touching parts of a dirt bike and then licking his finger would result in a trace amount of lead being absorbed into the body – we’re talking less than drinking a glass of water. Still, the CPSC is interpreting “any” to mean “none whatsoever.”
Believe it or not, that single word is the hurdle standing in our way.
In a conversation with Scott Wolfson, Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the CPSC earlier this morning, he explained to us what went on in yesterday’s meeting, where the CPSC stands on the issue and what will happen next.
CN: Tell us about yesterday’s meeting in Washington, D.C.
SW: There was a public meeting yesterday with the Motorcycle Industry Council and the SVIA – the video of which should be available tomorrow morning on [the CPSC] website. They presented their case to us. They put it in writing before, but they came before us to talk about an independent contractor that they hired to do an analysis of dirt bikes and ATVs, shared their thoughts on the issue, and of course, explained to us the consequences of what's going on all across the country.
CN: Does the CPSC know how heavily this is impacting our industry?
SW: Yes. We feel for the dealers. We know what they're going through. They have made the right decision to pull the youth models off of showroom floors and put them in storage for the time being. CPSC has never told them to throw them away. We want them to hold them and wait until we make a final decision. But at the same time we want everyone who has interest in this activity to understand, this is a very challenging issue for us. It is not cut and dry and I don't say that in the context of CPSC thinking that kids are chewing on their dirt bike. That is not the perspective we have. The issue we have to look at is the issue of hand-to-mouth contact. It's what this law calls for. We're asking questions and we're trying to glean information about exactly where the lead is in a dirt bike, [if it’s] accessible to the touch of a child, and one of the key questions that came up: Are there any design changes that can be made to remove lead from the process of manufacturing?
CN: I see here in the Federal Register that lead used as an alloy was listed under the exemptions. Wasn't that a key part of the original argument?
SW: Yes. When you see the video, you'll see that different representatives of some of the major companies – Honda was there, Kawasaki was there, Suzuki – they each had representatives speaking about the use of those metal alloys. Why do they need it, why is it in there, and that's now part of that analysis.
CN: What came out of yesterday’s meeting?
SW: No decisions were made yesterday. We are now processing the information that we received from them yesterday.
CN: Is resolving this a high priority for the CPSC?
SW: I would describe it as a fast-track issue for the CPSC right now. We’re taking weeks – not months. But I don't say that in the context of just ATVs and dirt bikes alone. I'm talking about the need for CPSC to finalize exemptions for any of the products that have requested an exemption under this law. As you probably well know, we've had news stories about books in libraries. We've had stories about children's clothing in thrift stores [being affected by the CPSIA].
There is a wide array of products and materials that have had requests for exemptions. We have already done an interim exemption for electronics in children’s products that are deeply embedded and non-accessible to the child. The reason for that is because in order to make electrical circuits, you need to use solder and there's lead in solder. So the exemption is only for those where the electronics are just deeply encased.
Another set of exemptions that we were allowed to do is for materials that are inherently lead-free, or have lead levels far below what the law calls for. So we're talking about wool and cotton and untreated wood, untreated leather, precious gems and steel. Well, the youth ATVs and youth dirt bikes don't fall under that category because there's already been admittance of lead in the product.
That brings us to the third exemption that congress is allowing us to do. That is for a case where it can be shown that there is not any - emphasize the word any - absorption... the law has the word "any," our staff here translated that word to mean "none". So no absorption of lead into the body. That's a challenging hurdle to cross over in an exemption. That's why we were asking the questions that we did yesterday and that's why the industry provided the information the way they did to us about where is the lead, how much is in it and what are the children touching as they get onto their dirt bike.
CN: That word "any" is the problematic thing in the law that CPSC is saying we need to appeal to Congress to change?
SW: Not for attribution to me, but yes, you're correct. That should be attributed to anyone on the outside who's characterizing the word "any" in a certain way. I can only present it as to what the law exactly says.
For more information or to view a video of the March 11th public meeting, visit www.cpsc.gov
(A link at the top inside of a green bar says: "Information on the CPSIA.” Look for the video to be posted inside the "What's New" section as early as March 13th.)
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